North Texas Legislator: License Shouldn’t Be Required To Own A Gun

AUSTIN (CBS 11 NEWS) – The state legislature convenes next week and there may be another battle brewing over gun rights. This time – over whether gun owners should be required to get any license at all.

When Scott Wiesmann got his license to carry a year ago, he found the required class, provided by the Frisco Gun Club, helpful. He said it had, “lots of good information.”

Wiesmann thinks training is important, but also thinks it’s not something that should be required by law.
“Constitutional carry. That’s Second Amendment. That’s your right,” he said.

With open carry and campus carry now established law here in Texas, new proposed legislation is looking to advance gun rights even further.

State Representative Jonathan Stickland, of Bedford, said, “We believe Texans should not be required to take a test or pay a fee for their right to defend themselves. The Second Amendment is all they should need.”

Stickland believes the state’s requirements can create impediments to gun ownership, particularly for people who can’t afford the cost of a class or license fee. He says his bill wouldn’t change who can lawfully carry a gun or where. Those specifically prohibited by law, such as minors and felons, he says, would continue to be barred from legally carrying.

Not all gun owners are comfortable with constitutional carry, though.

Marque Stahill, who enjoys shooting targets at the gun range, says she supports the right to bear arms, but worries about allowing people to do so without any training. “The more guns that there are on people who haven’t taken classes and maybe don’t know how to shoot a gun… I feel like that’s actually more dangerous to the general public.”

Stickland says he’d like individuals to decide for themselves what training they need.

With no training requirement at all, though, Stahill is skeptical of how responsible people would be. She said, “It’s the easy way out not to go through the training. Right?”